


Sleepless Nights

by dragonbagel, RealityPhobia



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Insomnia, M/M, Reunions, borderlands reverse bang 2018, mentions of handsome jack/gortys/loader bot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-08 16:58:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14109903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonbagel/pseuds/dragonbagel, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RealityPhobia/pseuds/RealityPhobia
Summary: After the crash of Helios, Vaughn had been sure that Rhys was dead—That is, until a deal with some bandits dumped his bro back into his life. Unfortunately, their reunion can’t silence the demons that keep each of them up at night.This takes place during Episode 5 of Tales.





	Sleepless Nights

**Author's Note:**

> Written by [dragonbagel](http://dragonbagel.tumblr.com) for the Borderlands Reverse Bang

Of all the diseases and perils on just waiting to kill him on Pandora, Vaughn never expected insomnia to be the one to do him in. Even the infected skag bite he’d sustained and subsequent hallucination-filled fever had nothing on the restlessness that plagued him each night. Sure, he’d had trouble sleeping sometimes back on Helios; but this nightly battle he now fought was a completely different beast. Unlike on the space station, taking a sleeping pill would just render him helpless to whatever murderous bandits and hellish creatures happened to be lurking outside. Besides, this wasn’t just some pre-meeting jitters.

This was soul-crushing guilt at the death of his best friend.

Okay, that wasn’t completely true. As he’d learned yesterday, his idiot best friend was actually still in the land of the living. And that dumbass wasn’t just his best friend, he was his...boyfriend? Partner? Friend with benefits? The multitude of possible labels for Rhys gave Vaughn even more anxiety that he was already dealing with, so he settled for the most unarguable title for his bro: the loser currently drooling on his chest.

Vaughn sighed, pulling Rhys’ body even closer to his. He was still half convinced that if he loosened his grip, the man that he’d spent so long searching for would disappear yet again. Sure, the saliva pooling atop his collarbones wasn’t exactly pleasant, but it sure as hell beat the nightmarish absence that had haunted him in the year since Helios had crashed and brought everything else he’d cared about tumbling down alongside it. At first he’d denied it, fought off the senseless apologies from the con artist sisters who’d failed to do what they’d promised him they would—who’d failed to bring his accident-prone lover back to him safely. But when he’d found that bloodied yellow arm lying severed in the wreckage...well, there was no denying it at that point.

Rhys was gone.

 _He’s not,_ the rational part of his brain chided him. _He’s right here._ The larger part of Vaughn’s brain that seemed content to continue to mope reminded him that even if Rhys was here physically, there was no telling where he stood mentally. Or emotionally. Or—though it felt immensely childish of him to even be so concerned with it considering he didn’t know Rhys was even fucking alive until recently— _romantically._

Rhys groaned in his sleep, and Vaughn’s heart froze momentarily in fear that his anxiety was somehow loud enough to rouse his friend. He relaxed as Rhys’ breathing evened out once again, the feeling of it hot on his bare chest. The sensation wasn’t unfamiliar. They’d cuddled before shit had hit the fan, more-than-cuddled too. But there was no denying that things were different now. Rhys’ arm and eye were both new, and he seemed skinnier than Vaughn remembered. He’d also had a psychopath riding shotgun in his head for months, and there was no doubt that did things to a man.

That wasn’t to say that Vaughn hadn’t undergone his own fair share of changes. He was a leader, not just a follower. People depended on him. His feelings for Rhys, though...those were painfully the same as they’d been since the day they’d met at college. Since the day Rhys had looked at him as if he actually meant something.

Vaughn sighed, letting his gaze flick to the ceiling of his bunk. The room he now called home used to be some sort of executive’s office back on Helios, and he’d found a pretty stash of booze in an impressively impenetrable safe while excavating it (as well as an unsettlingly large collection of vintage pornos from Elpis that made Vaughn quite popular amongst his colleagues-turned-citizens). He wondered if Rhys would be willing to crack open a bottle with him tomorrow. That is, if Vaughn ever made it to tomorrow. The night was proving to be endless, and it was becoming evident that Vaughn wasn’t about to get any shut-eye. He wished more than anything to be able to talk to Rhys, to tell him how much he meant to him.

Instead, all he could do was wait for the sun to rise and bring with it yet another long Pandoran day.

* * *

 

* * *

Rhys had never feared darkness before. Even as a child, he’d prided himself on his lack of need for a night light. Now, though, he found himself terrified to even blink. Perhaps that was a logical response to having none other than Handsome fucking Jack, the king of violent maniacs, prowling around his head for weeks on end, but that didn’t mean Rhys had to enjoy it. Seriously, how was it even remotely fair for him to _still_ be seeing that glowing blue bastard each time he closed his eyes? He’d literally ripped his own eye out, a fact that was apparently irrelevant to whatever capricious karma god was shirking on its duty to watch over him.

Even now with his face squished against Vaughn’s strangely muscular chest Rhys found it difficult to close his eyes. As if the possibility of embarrassing himself by sleep talking in front of the man he had an enormous crush on wasn’t bad enough, he still had a nagging fear of waking up as someone other than himself.

Of waking up as Jack.

Rhys shuddered, burrowing closer to Vaughn. He’d spent months working on the designs of his new arm and eye, but that didn’t guarantee them to be virus-free (not that he’d admit that to anyone). It wasn’t even that he was scared of Jack strangling him at this point—he’d lived out that nightmare more times than he could count. But now that Vaughn was here, that Vaughn was _alive_ and _with him_ , he couldn’t risk even the slightest malfunction. Plus, Loader Bot had been a bit unnecessarily rough while dragging him through the desert, and he didn’t trust that some of the more intricate wiring of the cybernetic hadn’t been jostled out of place.

He shifted his head to be able to look upon Vaughn’s face, the light from Elpis streaming through the cracked windows illuminating the contours of his beard. Tentatively, Rhys reached up his flesh arm to stroke Vaughn’s cheek, the skin soft beneath his fingertips. It was strange; not just the softness despite the harsh Pandoran sun, but the familiarity of it. How many other times had Rhys slept on Vaughn’s chest, cuddled with him as they watched movies and played video games?

Rhys sighed as he let his hand fall back, his fingers twitching. It was stupid of him to assume that there was anything left between them, considering their time spent apart and the incessant lying that had preceded it. He was honestly surprised that Vaughn was even okay with them sharing a bed, though he definitely wasn’t going to push it. His bro was probably just overwhelmed by, y’know, seeing him alive. He really shouldn’t read into it.

Unfortunately, his miserably, hopelessly romantic brain had other ideas.

He found himself imagining what their future could look like together. It was, in his opinion, equal parts endearing and embarrassing. They’d certainly be a power couple, what with their respectively high statuses. Sure, the height difference would be awkward, but it wasn’t anything some strategic fashion choices couldn’t fix.

_What, do you really think he’ll take you back after everything you did to him?_

Rhys grimaced at the nauseating voice that still echoed in his head. Seriously, what did he do to deserve this? He wished he had the strength to force back this hybrid Jack that, to be clear, didn’t even exist outside his subconscious; he wished it almost as much as he wished that he could blame these thoughts on some malignant code rather than his own rapidly spiraling insecurities.

Sighing, Rhys slowly rolled off of Vaughn so that he could sit up on the edge of the bed. His hands scrunched the sheets, which he idly noticed were of a much lower thread count than his set at Atlas. Yet another reason to get back to work as soon as possible and leave this nonsense with Gortys behind.

_And this nonsense with Vaughn._

Rhys grit his teeth and pushed himself up to stand, remembering to duck slightly at the last moment to avoid hitting his head on the half sunken-in ceiling. Banging his skull against the metal would surely wake Vaughn, even more so than his fumbling with the makeshift door made out of an escape pod hatch. The night air was cold on his skin as he exited the room, and he crossed his arms over his chest in an attempt to conserve warmth. His thin shirt was doing absolutely nothing in terms of heating him up, but hey, it wasn’t like he was going to sleep or engage in any other activity that required comfort.

The desert was eerily quiet as Rhys began to pace around Vaughn’s tiny building, easily circling the room in half a minute. After five more times around, Rhys lodged his foot in a notch in the warped piece of metal and hoisted himself up onto the roof. The material wasn’t exactly comfortable, but Rhys managed to fold his gangly legs up into a semi-suitable position to continue on with his insomniac boredom and rumination. From his vantage point, Elpis appeared unsettlingly close in the sky. The cracks marring its surface ran like veins, its craters framing what appeared to be a giant pupil. An eye, staring at him and glowing, just like the one he’d ripped out of his head.

_Hail to the king, baby. You’re not getting rid of me that easily._

Rhys clenched his fists at the intrusive thoughts bombarding him. He hadn’t climbed up here to deal with Jack, he’d climbed up here to _avoid_ him. A fleeting thought of the partnership he’d agreed to on top of the caravan what felt like years ago flew through his head, giving him a nauseating sense of whiplash. Oh god, he was definitely going to puke. At least none of his creepy coworkers-turned-worshipers were here to witness it, because that would seriously hurt the superiority complex he had going for him.

“Rhys?”

Rhys jumped at the sound of his name, startled out of his trancelike state. He probably would have slid off the side of the roof had it not been for a strong hand clasping his shoulder, rooting him in place.

“What the hell are you doing out here?”

Rhys flushed at the genuine concern on Vaughn’s face, shrugging his hand off nonchalantly. “I could ask you the same thing,” he mumbled in response.

He wasn’t sure what the nervous chuckle he then inadvertently let out was meant to mask, but the choking sound definitely didn’t make him appear cool, calm, or collected.

“I came out here looking for you,” Vaughn said, thankfully not mentioning the awful shade of red painting his bro’s face.

“Oh,” Rhys replied, averting his gaze. “Well, you found me.”

Vaughn frowned at Rhys’ attempts to pretend he didn’t exist. “What’s going on?”

Rhys rolled his eyes and sunk back into his all-too-familiar routine of feigned overconfidence. “I just needed some air. Jeez, are you this stalker-ish with all of your minions?”

There was a pause as Vaughn silently evaluated the situation. It would be easy to shrug it off as brotherly concern rather than admitting that maybe he possibly (definitely) still had some feelings, but it would then be just as hard to go back inside and leave Rhys to deal with whatever nighttime demon he was facing.

“You’re not my minion,” Vaughn said finally, slowly edging himself up onto the ledge beside Rhys. “Actually, neither are they, so don’t give them any ideas.”

Rhys cracked a small smile, though it faded as his upturned gaze returned to the glow of Elpis.

“Seriously bro, what’s up?” Vaughn cringed at the sound of the concern that he hadn’t managed to hide in his voice.

Rhys shrugged, sighing. “Just, y’know, um, things. Pretty dumb, honestly.”

“It’s not dumb if you care about it,” Vaughn replied, moving to place a calming hand on Rhys’ knee before freezing halfway through the action. He quickly retracted his hand, hoping Rhys hadn’t noticed his embarrassing slip-up.

“Nah,” Rhys said, his attention still locked on the sky. “It really is dumb.”

Vaughn groaned. “I forgot how stubborn you are.”

Rhys snorted at that, his focus returning from whatever far-out, nightmarish plane it had been on. “You should probably get someone to look into that. I’m pretty sure memory loss isn’t supposed to happen this young—unless there’s something you’ve been keeping from me.”

“Shut up,” Vaughn chuckled, lightly elbowing Rhys. “You know you’re older than me.”

Rhys bit his lip cheekily. “Which is unfortunate, because you know I’ve got a thing for older men.”

Vaughn nearly choked at Rhys’ words, his entire face turning beet red and palms sweating buckets in the time it took for Rhys to realize what exactly he’d just said.

“Oh,” Rhys said quietly, eyes going vacant as he saw his life flash before him. “That wasn’t supposed to be, uh, out loud. So just, um, forget it, thanks. I’ll just—y’know, I’ll go find somewhere else to stay, maybe not where the rakk nests are but somewhere out of your hair so—”

“Rhys.” Vaughn looked at Rhys pointedly as he spoke, the other man’s eyes blown wide and his mouth slightly agape from where he’d paused mid-ramble. “You don’t have to go anywhere.”

“See, you may say that now, but really, I’m giving you an out so that later—”

This time, Rhys was cut off by the feeling of Vaughn’s lips pressed against his. He gasped, though didn’t pull back until Vaughn did.

Vaughn appeared similarly shocked and flustered, though attempted to keep his cool. “You were rambling. Plus, if you were out here alone, you’d definitely get eaten by a spiderant.”

“What the hell is a spider _ant_?” Rhys’ voice became significantly higher (as well as muffled) as Vaughn brought their mouths together yet again.

“You don’t want to know,” Vaughn replied after they broke apart. “Now come back to bed.”

Rhys shook his head, the movement slow considering the seemingly alternate reality he now existed in. “I can’t sleep.”

Vaughn shrugged. “Neither can I.”

Rhys seemed to inspect Vaughn for a moment, as if to decide if this was all just some sort of practical joke. When he finally agreed, Vaughn was already reaching out a hand to help him to the ground. Luckily, Rhys still had a bit of dignity left in him, so his future self wouldn’t have to hate him for accepting Vaughn’s help rather than jumping down himself.

What he might end up doing later that night...well, that would just have to be for down-the-line Rhys to deal with.

* * *

Neither Vaughn nor Rhys was a stranger to insomnia. The burning behind their eyes, the anxiety in their bones as the clock ticked closer to morning. Usually they could weather the storm together, hold each other close until at least one managed to sleep. Sometimes they even talked, though never about the dark thoughts they each harbored within; that was the stuff of nightmare fodder, nothing more.

But tonight was different. It wasn’t a nightmare, and it wasn’t merely a thought. It was an impending doom that was growing nauseatingly closer, an unspoken acceptance that neither cared to confirm the truth of. Of course, it also could not be denied: tomorrow they were going to reassemble Gortys and attempt to defeat the Vault Monster. It was a long shot, and they both knew their odds of success were beyond shitty. They were doing it for Loader Bot, though; Loader Bot, who’d brought them back together after months of mourning and loneliness, who’d led them to this shared bed. The mere idea of returning to that constant grief was unbearable.

Vaughn tightened his grip on Rhys’ shoulders as he felt a tear drip onto his chest, actually wishing that it could be that same drool that dried on his skin every other night since they’d been reunited. He knew he was probably getting Rhys’ hair wet with his own silent crying, though for once it appeared that Rhys’ vanity had been overpowered by another emotion.

He could feel Rhys slightly trembling at his side, and he bit his lip. How could he possibly lose him again? It just wasn’t fair. Not even the rarest loot in the world could make up for the warmth of Rhys’ body pressed against his, the feeling of his lips, the sound of his voice. Surely those things would come to haunt his nightmares, if he ever managed to fall asleep again.

“I love you.”

The words were spoken so softly that Vaughn was half-convinced he was hallucinating, but when Rhys repeated them and met his gaze, he knew he’d heard correctly. “You..what?”

“I love you, bro. No matter what happens tomorrow.”

Vaughn closed his eyes as he felt more tears well in them. “I love you too, bro.”

“We should get some sleep,” Rhys said, snorting a moment later at the sheer absurdity of the statement.

“Probably,” Vaughn replied, shrugging. “But I think I have a better idea.”

He motioned for Rhys to follow him as he stood, sliding on sandals as Rhys practically tripped into his own shoes. He took Rhys’ hand as they exited the small room, pausing to hoist a small bag up on his shoulder before closing the door. They didn’t speak as they walked, Vaughn weaving between makeshift shelters and Rhys trying his best not to stumble over the various rocks. Eventually they reached the main shell of what used to be Helios, the metallic frame half wedged into the ground. A frail-looking ladder was leaned against the side, and Vaughn gestured to a judgmental Rhys to climb up behind him.

Rhys, for all his skepticism, followed, managing to reach the top without incident. There, he took a seat next to Vaughn, who pulled a flashy bottle out of the unassuming bag. Rhys whistled, causing Vaughn to chuckle. “Found it when we crashed and never had a chance to try it,” he explained as he popped off the lid and took a swig.

He swished the liquor around in his mouth for a moment, like he was at a wine tasting class instead of in the desert with a steadily approaching death sentence.

“Pretty good,” Rhys said, causing Vaughn to nearly choke as he swallowed. He’d taken a hefty sip, clearly not worried about savoring the drink.

“I’ll say,” Vaughn chuckled, grabbing the bottle back again. “Now come on, we’ve got all night. Gotta make it last.”

Rhys sighed, leaning his side against Vaughn’s as he shifted into a more comfortable position. From here, he could see all the details in Vaughn’s features, not to mention the abundance of stars overhead. He turned to where he knew the sun would eventually rise as he pressed himself more tightly against Vaughn.

For once, he hoped the daylight wouldn’t come quickly.

**Author's Note:**

> Art for Borderlands Reverse Bang 2018 is by RealityPhobia!


End file.
